The Invention of Whiteness

by Robin Ess

Hello Faithful Reader, I hope this edition of the Black Birdseye View found you well and in good spirits. I am well. Seeing how things are today, I can't help but reflect on the invention of whiteness and how it shapes narratives.

European American history (categorized broadly as "white history") is deeply intertwined with the history of black people born in America.

The Invention of Race

In 1676, with Bacon's Rebellion, poor white and black people united against the colonial elite. Rich "white people," alarmed by this cross-racial alliance, responded by creating legal and social divisions between white people) and black people. "Whiteness" was invented as a category of privilege, used to divide the working class and institutionalize a racial hierarchy. Laws were passed that gave poor whites property rights and political status while enslaving blacks permanently.

Chattel Slavery and White Supremacy

From the 1600s through 1865, the U.S. operated under chattel slavery, where black people were categorized as property. This system was legally enforced, hereditary, and racialized.

Children of "enslaved" black mothers were enslaved by default.

Children of enslaved black mothers were automatically born into slavery, ensuring chattel slavery's continuation across generations. To uphold and legitimize chattel slavery, defenders of slavery turned to religion and early pseudoscience were used as tools to justify chattel slavery

• Religious justifications involved distorted interpretations of scripture. Slave masters (massa) cited passages from the bible, such as the "Curse of Ham" (book of Genesis), to claim "prove" it was divinely acceptable and ordained by God that black people were destined for servitude. Presenting it in this way silenced moral opposition and enforced white supremacy through religious authority.

• Simultaneously, early pseudoscience was a powerful ideological weapon. Debunked theories (Phrenology, craniometry) were used to argue that black people were biologically inferior, intellectually deficient, and naturally suited for labor. These ideas were fed to the people as "scientific truths." They were accepted among academics and policymakers of the time, lending a false sense of credibility to racial hierarchies and the enslavement of black people.

Together, religion and pseudoscience formed a potent ideological framework that masked the cruelty of slavery with moral and intellectual pretenses.

• They helped normalize systemic violence and oppression

• They allowed generations of individuals and institutions to participate in, benefit from, and perpetuate a brutal system without confronting its immorality.

The economy flourished on the backs of black people who grew cotton, tobacco, and sugar, especially in the South. White supremacy (KKK), the belief and system that white people were inherently superior and deserved domination, became a key organizing principle of American society.

Immigration and the Shifting Boundaries of Whiteness

In the 19th and 20th centuries, white immigrants (Irish, Italian, Polish, Jewish) arrived. Many were not initially considered "white" and faced discrimination. Over time, they were allowed to "become white" by distancing themselves from black people and benefiting from racial hierarchies.  

Key policies like the 1790 Naturalization Act only allowed "free white persons" to become citizens. Later, housing programs, the GI Bill, and legacy admissions reinforced whiteness as a privileged status, helping white people build wealth while excluding black people.

White Supremacy in Law and Culture

White supremacy was built into American law. The Constitution counted black people as three-fifths of a person. The Dred Scott decision said black people had no rights white people were bound to respect. Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation and voter suppression for nearly a century. The United Daughters of the Confederacy rewrote Civil War history to portray the South as noble and downplay slavery, spreading the Lost Cause myth in schools and monuments.

Black Resistance and Civil Rights

Even in the face of overwhelming oppression, black people resisted. From slave rebellions to abolitionist alliances, from:

• The Harlem Renaissance 

• Civil Rights Movement

• Black leaders and communities fought for justice.

• Brown v. Board of Education in 1954

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 struck down legal segregation.

But change was met with resistance, and new tools of inequality emerged.

Modern Systems of Racial Inequality

Even after Jim Crow ended, systemic racism endured through practices such as:

• Redlining - denied black families access to mortgages and segregated cities.

• Gentrification displaced black communities through rising rents and development.

• Legacy admissions gave unearned advantages to white college applicants.

• The War on Drugs disproportionately targeted black and Latino people/communities.

• The FBI infiltrated and destabilized black liberation movements through programs like COINTELPRO.

Reflections on Present-Day Race Relations

Today, the relationship between black and white people remains shaped by the legacies of slavery, segregation, and systemic exclusion. While some would say that progress has been made in areas such as civil rights, representation, and legal protections, deep racial disparities HAVE ALWAYS EXISTED in wealth, education, healthcare, policing, and housing.

Many whites are beginning to engage more critically with the privileges afforded to them by the system, while many blacks continue to push for equality, justice, and true inclusion. National conversations about race are met with political backlash and efforts to suppress discussions of racism in schools and public institutions.

Justice for the Descendants of Enslaved Africans

Justice for black people must begin with acknowledgment. Acknowledgment of the deep, systemic harms caused by centuries of chattel slavery, segregation, economic exclusion, racial terror, and the continued legacy of anti-blackness in modern institutions. Acknowledgment alone is not enough. Justice must be active, structural, and restorative.

• True justice should include reparative measures, financial reparations, and sustained investments in black communities. This includes access to quality education, homeownership, healthcare, mental health resources, and equitable employment opportunities. Justice means the dismantling of policies and practices that continue to perpetuate inequality, such as biased policing, discriminatory lending, and inequities in the legal system.

• Justice means representation in politics, media, academia, and leadership roles where black voices are included, centered, respected, and empowered to shape the systems that limit them. Justice must include historical truth-telling, ensuring that the full history of slavery and its aftermath is taught, preserved, and honored in public education, museums, and collective memory.

• Justice must address the psychological and cultural impact of centuries of dehumanization. Healing spaces, cultural pride, and platforms for black creativity, intellectualism, and innovation are critical to restoring what white people stripped away.

• Justice is not about charity. It is about accountability, equity, and building a future where race does not define opportunity. It is about repairing what was broken, returning what was stolen, and ensuring that the descendants of those who built this country under bondage can finally thrive in it with dignity, freedom, and full citizenship.

Considering American history, is it realistic to expect the system that was built to enslave black people will, after all this time, decide to hit UNO reverse and dismantle their own privileges?

The systems of power in the U.S. (legal, economic, educational, political) were not just complicit in racism; they were built around it. The foundations of this country include:

• Slavery

• Land theft

• Genocide *to intentionally destroy an ethnic, religious, national, or racial group

When a system is designed to uphold racial hierarchy, expecting that same system to dismantle itself voluntarily is naive. Change would mean confronting centuries of harm, redistributing resources, and restructuring power, and history shows us that those with power rarely give it up easily.

Even when progress is made, it's met with backlash. Reconstruction led to Jim Crow. The War on Drugs and mass incarceration followed the Civil Rights Movement. We see pushbacks against teaching honest history, attempts to ban DEI programs, and political movements actively working to suppress conversations that lead to justice.

Is segregation a viable option for black people today?

There's a growing conversation, especially among younger black thinkers, artists, and activists, about intentional separation, not as a return to Jim Crow-style segregation (which was enforced to exclude and oppress), but as a strategic and empowering form of self-determination. Think:

• Building and supporting black-owned businesses,

• Creating independent schools,

• Moving to historically black towns or communities,

• Controlling narratives through black media,

• Cultivating spaces where black identity and culture can thrive without constant policing, exploitation, or surveillance.

This type of modern-day "segregation" isn't about hate or division. It's about healing, protection, and agency. It stems from the belief that black people shouldn't have to beg white people for equality, dignity, or fair treatment. It's about saying: We can build for ourselves. We can define success on our terms.

But here's the tension:

• Systemic power still matters. The "system" controls banking, healthcare, education, funding, infrastructure, and law enforcement. Even a self-sufficient black community is still subject to state violence (Tulsa, Rosewood, MOVE in Philly).

• We live in an interconnected world. Most black people in the U.S. have to navigate white-dominated spaces daily (jobs, housing markets, universities, etc.) Total separation isn't always possible, or even desired, for all black people.

• The burden of segregation is unfair. Segregation does not hold the system accountable for change. Segregation could be seen as surrender, leaving racism unchallenged in the mainstream rather than dismantling it.

Is segregation viable? 

It is in some ways. Black people have always created safe spaces for joy, resistance, and survival. But should it be the only option?

Ultimately, this isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. Some will choose to build outside the system. Others will fight to change it from within. Both are valid. Both are necessary. And both are rooted in the same goal: Black Liberation.

Until Next time, Breathe to Think

Robin Ess

www.blackbirdseyeviewnews.us